Under Lock And Key
by It's Just a FAYZ
Summary: M for language and themes. "It’ll be like a baptism, plunge yourself into the water, be born again." Diana takes matters into her own hands with one final stand. One-shot.


Diana looked down at the swirling surf. This was the perfect spot. Below, the water was deep, deeper than she could see. From up here on this rock, a little outcrop that was closer to a cliff than anything, she was the farthest out on the Pacific she could be–well without swimming, of course.

Rain dripped solemnly from above. Not enough to get her completely wet, just enough for the cold to set in and the shivers to begins. Salt water rushed down her face. Diana caught herself believing it was the spray from the water–but there was no spray. Not in the FAYZ, because there were no waves.

Diana crumpled to the ground. The FAYZ. It had ripped everything apart that she'd ever known to be true. Diana Ladris went to Coates Academy. She was by no means a good girl.

Still, there were lines. She was a liar, she was a seductress, she was manipulative, and above all she had been heartless. She'd never cared about the little people that were crushed in her plots and schemes. They would get over a little humiliation, a few detentions. They were just casualties to her.

"Why did you do this to me?" she yelled to the sky. For a fleeting moment she gazed in horror at her own hands, before she pounded the rocky surface with clenched fists. The action did nothing to relieve her internal pain, but her anger began to ebb. An action plan unfolded in her head, her already overworked brain began to work a mile a minute.

Diana clawed at her hair as she thought. She tried to think of one redeeming thing she had done since the beginning of the FAYZ.

_Redeeming thing? You damned every freak. Every innocent human being with powers you condemned to hell. You'll be sure to follow them, Ladris, Diana thought to herself. She clenched her eyes tightly, not wanting it to be true._

"No!" she shouted out to nobody, and to everybody. "Caine did it, Drake did it, Panda, Mallet and Chaz did it! Not me! Never me!" she dared to open her eyes again. She almost expected to see herself standing in front of her, talking to her accusing her. She was vaguely aware this was all in her head. She wasn't talking to herself, she was just telling herself the things she didn't want to listen to.

Images swirled into her head, unbidden. The first reading of the FAYZ. Diana's short–lived 'alphabet system' of ranking the powers. Shortly after she implemented the cell-phone bar reception system it happened. Her first unfaithful freak, Dekka.

Caine had watched as she read Dekka, and as soon as Diana felt that familiar rush of power she'd come to known as a three-bar, she backed off. She left without a word. Dekka hadn't known her power at the time. Of course, why would she? Diana already knew what Caine would do–maybe not the specifics, but she got the gist of it.

Without hesitating she had walked up to Caine, mouthed, "Three bar," quickly, and left. She'd left knowing Drake was already preparing the holes in the ground for the cement.

_Those freaks you starved, tortured, degraded. Did you like watching them? Like Drake and Caine did? Enjoying the power it gave you? The power [i]your powers gave you?[/i]_

"No! Never! I just read their powers, that's all! I never pulled a trigger... I–" Diana broke off mid-sentence with a sob. She quickly wiped a tear out of her eye, embarrassed to be crying. Although who would know anyways?

_Accessory to murder. That must make you feel so much better. Then you're only the mindless tool the murderer uses. You were just the fool who lead the sheep to the slaughter house._

Diana choked at the metaphor her mind supplied for her. That was exactly what she'd done. Her victims had trusted her enough so that it wasn't awkward for their hands to touch, so she could read them. Then she'd reported to Caine, while he decided whether or not they were useful. Or a threat.

She shuddered violently.

_You know what you have to do, Di. Beauty really is skin deep. It'll be like a baptism, plunge yourself into the water, be born again._

Diana could hear herself in the thoughts. This was all her, it wasn't some disembodied being speaking to her. She didn't want what was happening, she just wanted everything to fix itself. Even to be a little bit better would have been something.

In the rain, which had since grown to an incessant downpour while she pondered, Diana Ladris stood up. She didn't feel weird. She didn't feel happy though. She hadn't been sad or happy for longer than she could remember. It felt like gravity had lightened, like she was flying freely through life. The cold rainwater inspired another set of shivers. Or was it the rain water?

_You don't have to be afraid, you're doing the right thing._

Dina wasn't afraid for herself. She wasn't really afraid for anything or anyone. There was not much she could have done to help anyways, she told herself. She couldn't repent her misdeeds if she'd tried.

She readied herself, steadying on shaking knees. She took two deep breaths, letting her life flash across her eyes. Interestingly enough, she saw events from the FAYZ more often than not, but the events prior to the poof were always the ones worth watching. For a moment, Diana quietly slipped away.

She broke her silence, she had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. The secret would be out. "Beautiful Diana Ladris who looked so great in a swimsuit would never wear one, why would that be?' they'd ask. The secret would be out as to why she rarely went to the beach, why pool parties always went unattended. Out for good.

_It was all my fault,_

She began to run forwards. Three excessively large steps got her to the edge of the rock, then all that was left was that one running jump. She took it with great aplomb, pushing off with all her might. All the while, Diana laughed at the tears that continued to stream down her face. What was the big deal? Who in their right mind laughed while crying?

Being in the air was liberating, she was weightless. Beyond all, she was free of responsibility. Gravity carried her down, and no matter of resisting could make that changed. She fell maybe twenty feet down before hitting the water. The fall only took seconds but it felt eons longer. Was it only twenty feet, or was it one hundred?

_'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.' ... Right?_

She hit the water with force, plunging down ten feet, maybe deeper. The bubbles flowed up around her as she sunk slowly and freely. It was an unusual sight. Salt water stung her eyes, or maybe those were still tears. She couldn't tell.

Even underwater, Diana was still pretty sure she was laughing, or at least trying her best to laugh. It wasn't very easy while underwater. It sure felt like she was laughing. This wasn't the perfect spot to think about anything and everything. This was the perfect place to take matters into her own hands. These hands had already taken so many lives, why not one more?

_Why not?_

Diana gave one weak grin. The secret would be out now, for good.

Because Diana Ladris didn't know how to swim.


End file.
